Database, Symposium Commemorate WWII
Along with the release of a new digitized collection from its highly acclaimed Veterans History Project, the Library of Congress will also hold a half-day symposium to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II on Thursday.
The symposium, titled “War’s End: Eyewitness to History,” will feature Benjamin Ferencz, an Army officer who served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, as the keynote speaker. Veterans History Project historian Tom Wiener and Prosser Gifford, the director of scholarly programs for the Library, will serve as panelists. The symposium is being co-sponsored by the Veterans History Project and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and will run from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Thomas Jefferson Building. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (202) 707-6179.
The Library’s new digital database, titled “VE-VJ,” will feature 13 new collections of materials submitted by veterans with unique perspectives on the end of the war. Visitors will be able to hear interviews, view letters, see photographs and peruse written memoirs from veterans recalling the hours after the announcement of the end of hostilities in Europe and Japan in 1945. The collection is accessible online at www.loc.gov/warstories.